Steenberg: Love is a “B-“, but “kind of sad” that nobody will top it

Eskil Steenberg, the single programmer behind the unusual collaborative building MMO Love, has said his game is a “B- in a genre no one else has gotten a D in”, and that he’s touched the “bleeding edge of what is possible”.

“My game has gone a lot further than anyone else has in terms of really building a simulated environment, Steenberg told Eurogamer.

“The game is being designed while you play it,” he added. “I’ve got a lot further than anyone else has because I’ve built this intelligence into it. But it’s incredibly hard to do it.

“I give my game a B- in a genre no one else has gotten a D in. But there are other genres where people have got A+s. Take a look at Super Mario Galaxy, that’s an A+ game in my mind. What I’m doing is way beyond that in difficulty”.

The lone gun commented that the “saddest” thing about the game is that it limits his future options. What do you do after you’ve single-handedly built one of the most innovative games around – by yourself?

“I’ve done something so complicated, I’ve gone to the bleeding edge of what is possible, and I can’t think of a way to do it better,” he said.

“I’m scared because I don’t see anyone else following me. Blizzard isn’t doing the game that is going to make Love look like ancient technology or crap. I don’t see anyone else doing it. I look at all the games out there and they’re not pushing the envelope further. That’s kind of sad.”

Steenberg commented that the experience of dedicatedly playing Love ruins the player for other games.

“”The players of my game … play a game like mine – maybe mine – and they’ll go back and play something scripted and say, ‘Oh my god this is so archaic.’ It’s like if you play Dragon’s Lair today – I’m not controlling it, it’s all fake.”